North Reach "Sept 2021" review: not what I thought (but still good)

[sarc]

I got a new 9M in January, been riding it a bit so now I feel I can share some impressions. The web shop called it a Sept. release so maybe it was a bit tweaked from early 2021 mode? Maybe not, who knows. I also have a Carve 6m so I'll compare the two.

It is a very good kite that has good high wind and excellent low wind performance.
I had jellyfishing during gusts when I pumped at the recommended pressure (forget what it was.. 6 or 7 PSI?) Also had a bit of vibration/jiggling on the bar during gusts.
Then I pumped real hard 10 PSI according to my gauge and the jellyfishing/bar vibrations went away but the kite did not turn naturally during jumps, it was not always where I expected to be especially when in the air.

Now I pump at 9PSI indicated on my gauge and it's stable and turns very well. So you need to experiment with pump pressure.

Around 25-27kn (I use the 6m above this speed) the kite is fine and depowers well. But the low end around 12-15kn is exceptionally good. I tried back to back my old 2017 Rebel 12m (canopy renewed with shoe goo) and the 9m Reach and I had more power on the 12 but more fun on the 9: more chuckable, throw around, better drift, overall more fun. I was not going upwind better on the 12.

Drift is excellent. The Carve (2020) is still better in waves because it sits deeper in the window and has more depower, but the Reach will not hindenburg when the Carve will. I had a bad pendulum jump where I ended up downwind of the kite and lines fully slack, drooping in the air: I thought 'time to swim!' and could not believe it when the kite floated back in the window for 2-3 seconds like nothing. Only my old PL Venoms did that.

Hangtime is excellent and on the Reach I consistently get the softest landings ever. Very pleased with that.

Kiteloops are totally completely stoopid. There's nothing to it. Jump, pull the trigger and the kite will ALWAYS come back over your head every time no matter what. It's like cheating or playing a videogame! Just unreal. Like on autopilot or something. I wrote on my Carve review that Carve was the easiest kitelooping kite ever but no, Reach is even easier and has better / less spikey lift so... just unreal. Carve can sometimes give a lot of horizontal pull if I mess up the timing, have not had that happen on the Reach yet.

Jumps are not very easy. On the Carve or my old Rebels you just pull on the back hand and you go high. On the Reach to get height I need a good load on the lines, so need a long stomp / upwind carve to get a good jump, or very good board/kite timing on chop or off wave tops. Then it jumps well, and you have the great hangtime and softest landings just keeping the kite over your head. It's harder to jump in choppy water. Once in the air it's very easy to get performance.

On Navigator 'large' bar with bar width at minimum, the 9m turning speed is great for waveriding but for me too fast for old school tricks. Dark slides, hand drag jybes etc. are difficult for me because 0.5 seconds after I initiate, the kite is already on the other side of the wind window. Maybe I just need to adjust my technique.

My 2021 only has 2 attachment points for back lines, labeled hard and soft... the kite flies noticeably different on the 2 settings, which is great because you can tune it for the conditions. ' Soft' the kite turns more pivoty and has a little more grunt, but less depower (great for wave riding). On 'hard' the kite turns with a slighly larger arc and more power in the turn, and has better depower (great for freeride). Very nice to be able to tune it like this. I did not notice difference on bar pressure.

Crashed the kite in shoulder high waves and it got caught in the channel so it got worked by a dozen waves. Not what you want to see in a new kite! Back on shore, absolutely nothing wrong anywhere, so I'm very happy with the construction and toughness. And yes I'm checking for pinholes in the canopy, so far zero.

All in all, very happy with this kite, it's a keeper for me!

[sarc]

Addition: I learned the proper jumping technique (after a dozen years on North Rebels): set up the jump with the kite at 11 o'clock not 10 o'clock like I would do on the Rebels, and adapt my timing to the new kite. Jumps are much easier/higher now, still a bit lower than Rebel but again the Reach is not a dedicated big air kite. Still loving this kite!

[Radja]

I tried Reach 13m 2021 for a couple hours. And a lot of your impressions are the same. Overall I liked it a lot. Really comfortable for freeride, easy jumps and a lot of support in the air. And yes it is very strange but kiteloops are really easy and compact with not much yank. For lightwind freeride and some kind of oldschool/bigair is perfect kite. For sure absolutely zero potential for wave or unhook due too much power when kite is low.

[Kiterisland1]

Around 25-27kn (I use the 6m above this speed) the kite is fine and depowers well. But the low end around 12-15kn is exceptionally good.

Hey, thanks for the review. The low end of 12knt I’m assuming on a foil? And high end 27kn on tt? Or were you saying both with tt in mind. Do you mind sharing your weight?

[sarc]

Around 25-27kn (I use the 6m above this speed) the kite is fine and depowers well. But the low end around 12-15kn is exceptionally good.

Hey, thanks for the review. The low end of 12knt I’m assuming on a foil? And high end 27kn on tt? Or were you saying both with tt in mind. Do you mind sharing your weight?

92Kg on Shinn Monk Chromatic 43